The Adventures of a Dragonborn: The Second Great War
by Systemfel
Summary: Welcome back to The Adventures of A Dragonborn series! This is the fourth part of Aurora's story, and will take place in Skyrim, Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. In this installation, she will reach new hights as a warrior, grow into a capable leader and mature as a woman as the Second Great War tears the lands of Tamriel apart and she herself struggles with her love life.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back to ****_The Adventures of A Dragonborn_**** series! This is the fourth part of Aurora's story, and will take place in Skyrim, Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. In this installation, she will reach new hights as a warrior, grow into a capable leader and mature as a woman as the Second Great War tears the lands of Tamriel apart.**

* * *

It was an unusually warm day in Eveningstar – but it was cloudy and incredibly wet, even though it had been hours since the rain passed through the city and continued over Morthal. Aurora was soaked inside of her ebony armour; both due to sweat and the weather, and her temperature constantly fluctuated. She did not worry for herself, though, even though it would be interesting to meet Ulfric to say the least. Katia was very tired and edgy due to the long trip from Whiterun. The child demanded food every other hour, and Aurora worried if there was something wrong with her.

"Make way for the saviour of Skyrim!" the guard yelled, making the other men step aside as the woman rode by.

It was annoying; all the banalities, the thankfulness. She had merely done her job, even if it had taken her a few years to reach the goals set by destiny. The woman did not need it all, she only wished for a quiet life where people would not bother her or put her on a pedestal. At that time, it would be too much to ask for since she had a war to fight, but in the future... In the far, distant future, she would settle down with the Companions as she had promised Vilkas, as she had promised herself.

Aurora continued through the familiar main street in Solitude, up towards Castle Dour. The entire city had changed as it was preparing for the war. Men were mobilising from across the entire Skyrim, meaning there was not enough housing for everyone.

As the woman reached the door to the Strategy Room, she carefully took Katia with her right arm and jumped off the horse. A young boy took her horse as the woman stepped inside the castle. The Imperial banners were long since gone, and the Stormcloak symbol was now adorning every door and window.

As soon as she set her foot inside of the castle, a soldier approached her. She did not know his name – he was probably a new recruit. The man was of average hight, had light brown hair and a very rectangular face. He bowed as he saw the woman.

"Lady Dragonborn! The King ordered me to greet you."

"Yes, yes..." Aurora said and continued forwards, though the corridor and into the empty Strategy Room.

The soldier followed her nervously and cautiously, afraid to irritate the woman somehow. Meanwhile, Aurora put Katia down on the table and took off the child's thick winter coat. The girl was falling asleep and struggled with sitting up straight.

"Do you wish to freshen up before the meeting, miss Dragonborn?"

"Yes, thank you," Aurora sighed. "Could you make sure the child has a babysitter?" she asked as she placed Katia on her right shoulder and very clumsily gathered the coat, gloves and wooly hat, spilling water onto the maps and letters.

"This way, then, miss Dragonborn. May I call you that, or is it lady Dragonborn?" the man asked and followed Aurora through another corridor.

"I'll just be 'officer'."

* * *

Aurora put her leather trousers and jacket on, combed her hair and braided it to the back. It had been a while since she last saw a mirror the same size as the one in her chamber, and for a moment, her female vanity was satisfied. Wearing the same set of clothes for half a year and living in the forests of Morrowind had taken its toll on how feminine she felt, so even the smallest things had a tremendous impact on her.

She instinctively threw a gaze around the room, searching for Katia before smiling slightly and cursing herself. She had made it a habit, even though she knew the child was perfectly safe in the Blue Palace. Aurora had been promised that Freda, the fifty-something nanny would bring her the girl if she woke up and cried.

The castle was a hectic place at the time, with people running around everywhere. It seemed like all of the former Stormcloak officers would gather later that day, for the entire city anticipated something. Aurora sighed as she passed two busy soldiers in the corridor, who nearly knocked her over.

It did not take long before she realised exactly why everyone was so busy. As she descended from the stairs and headed back to the Strategy Room, she saw him. The King in his usual dark coat with bear fur, golden chestplate and metal gauntlets. He had a few more grey hairs, but otherwise, his appearance remained the same. He looked tired, though. Very tired. Aurora did not know if it was due to many sleepless nights or merely a long trip, but the man was clearly worn.

She stayed halfway down the stairs and crossed her arms. He had not noticed her yet, but was fully occupied with emptying the room of people and clearing the table. Soldiers ran back and forth, arranging seats and carrying equipment. They reacted only when Ulfric raised his voice. A few moments later, Arrald Frozen-Heart marched into the room and greeted the King.

"Forgive me for the delay, the convoy got stuck in the muddy roads just east of Solitude," he told Ulfric.

The High King greeted him with a handshake and invited him to the table where he immediately begun to read a map. It did not take long before Kottir and Gonnar came through the same door, greeted the men and sat down. Aurora sighed, and with heavy steps, she took the last steps down the stairs and walked inside the Strategy Room.

The woman did not know if it was just in her mind, or if everyone truly went completely quiet. For a few seconds, she stood there like a small girl in front of a group of strict teachers, before the officers greeted her. The woman had sometimes thought of how their first encounter would be – her and the King's. The last time, it had been semi-emotional at least, but this time, she felt nothing. She did not know if she could consider the man a friend anymore, or if he was too upset with her.

"Dragonborn..." she heard Ulfric whisper.

As she looked at him, she realised that he probably had not intended to utter the word, but that it had simply flown out of him. The ever so gathered man trembled for a few moments.

"My King," she said and bowed her head.

He looked at her for ages, never tearing his eyes from her. It was a mixture of relief, anger and anxiety. The woman did her best to remain calm and not draw more attention to herself, so she sat down as quickly as she could and pierced her gaze to the table in front of her.

One by one, the Jarls and officers came. The table was too small to provide a comfortable sitting position for most of them, including Aurora. She gave herself a clap on the shoulder for not wearing her armour unlike some others – who looked pompous and very awkward.

"Ah, the Dragonborn! Good to see you again!" she heard Vignar's familiar voice as he sat down, being one of the last to do so.

"You too, Vignar."

"I wish to congratulate you – a hero of our lands!"

"Yeah, thanks for letting me borrow your castle."

"My house is your house."

A few moments later, the last one came – the old bear Galmar who hurried to Aurora's side and forced Laila Law-Giver to move a seat.

"Stormblade!" he exclaimed and hit her on the shoulder.

"Apparently, I go under the name Dragonborn now," the woman smiled and shook his hand.

"They say you went to Sovngarde..."

"Leave the girl alone, Galmar," Ulfric interrupted from the other side of the table. "I think everyone's ready."

The muscular, old man went quiet and looked around the table and the room for a few moments before turning his eyes towards the King again.

"Why isn't Elisif here?" he asked with a dissatisfied expression.

"She temporarily resides on the countryside," Ulfric answered shortly and getured for everyone to stop chatting.

He slowly leaned over the table and looked all participants in the eyes, one by one, but seemed to avoid meeting Aurora's. His hands covered a small map of Tamriel and a piece of a letter.

"War!" he suddenly shouted, shocking his audience.

"All Officers from the Stormcloaks will, as I've already told you, remain the same in Skyrim's army. Galmar will be General, and... so will my _beloved_ wife," he continued sarcastically.

"Elisif!?" Galmar exclaimed.

"Yes, sadly the regent King or Queen automatically becomes General," he complained in a low tone.

They were High King and High Queen, but Ulfric had the real power. The Moot wished for them to be co-regents due to the man's legitimacy issues, but it was evident to everyone that the marriage was not a happy and harmonic one. Knowing Ulfric, Aurora suspected that he had simply sent his wife away to a place from where she could not do any harm to his political and military plans.

"It is war then?" asked Jarl Soril.

"Yes," the man replied and let go of the table, crossing his arms instead. "I need help in order to build an army."

"But my King... You have already that sort of experience. You have your loyal Storm..." Yrsarald began.

"This is WAR!" Ulfric shouted. "... Not a rebellion," the man said, swallowing hard. "We were outnumbered against the Empire, but the ratio against the Thalmor is almost comical."

"Then why are we even starting this war?! It is madness!" Jarl Dengeir exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.

"If we don't start it, they will," the King answered calmly, still standing with his arms crossed.

"And how do we know that?" Jarl Korir asked.

"It is breaking the White Gold Concordat to allow Talos-worship, something our King already permitted. We have also ceased to pay tribute, the signals are clear," Ulfric said.

"You forgot to mention the fact that we sent the entire Thalmor Embassy away as soon as we heard that Dragonborn returned," Galmar added.

Aurora felt uneasy as all eyes were drawn towards her for a moment, but did not let it show. It was better not to show any signs of weakness considering what they were heading into.

"And the fact that they would want to take this opportunity to finish off the Empire once and for all," Ulfric continued.

The room was quiet, but all the officers, and the Jarls in particular seemed to have an energetic debate inside of their minds. War against the Thalmor... most of them remembered how bloody it had been the last time.

"We don't have enough soldiers," the King continued. "I don't see another option than conscription. I want you to figure out for how long we can afford this war."

"That will be the end of our economy!" Jarl Skald the Elder exclaimed and hit the table with his fist.

"Who is to teach them all? Most people can defend themselves against a mudcrab, but not much else," Jarl Laila concluded.

"It will have to be city guards and former Stormcloak rebels," Jarl Thongvor suggested.

"My King," Jarl Vignar spoke. "We need elite platoons against the Thalmor. From what I've experienced, they focus a lot on smaller scale operations with a specific goal."

"A war is a war. It is basically about numbers," Ulfric said.

"We have to pick a strategy here. Do we want head to head battle or guerrilla war?" Vignar continued.

"I don't think we are the ones to decide that. The Thalmor will most likely disembark in the southern lands, but it will take time before they gather enough troops. Besides, we have recently fought a civil war, the Thalmor won't think that they'll have to face us too this soon. They will most probably attack Cyrodiil as it has shown itself to be the milkdrinker it is, but they will not expect an attack from us."

"Then we will continue the silent recruitment, but until then, there are loads of Aldmeri spies and intruders in our lands. We need to clean them out," Galmar energetically spoke.

"It will make good training for youngsters," Arrald Frozen-Heart smiled.

"We can't send inexperienced farmers against magicians!" Istar Cairn-Breaker shouted at his fellow officer.

"Then we will put officers who know what they are doing in charge over them," Kai Wet-Pommel said in defence of his brother-in arms.

"My King, may I speak?" Aurora interrupted.

She looked at Ulfric who met her gaze for three or so seconds before making a gesture. Once more, all eyes turned to her, expecting miracles. The woman swallowed her anxiety and tremblingly began:

"We have something they don't. The Companions. If we would put a Companion to lead... let's say city guards and train them?" she suggested.

"The Companions do not listen to Jarls or even Kings. Make sure they do their duty for their country, Dragonborn," Ulfric replied.

"I will travel to Whiterun as soon..."

"No. You shall write to them. You are needed here, officer."

A moment later, he turned to the Jarls.

"I want a list of every able-bodied man and woman in my Kingdom by next week. Then we will meet again and organise them into battalions," he continued. "And give the woman some ink!"


	2. The Cave Adventure

Katia had become a very playful, little individual who absolutely loved the stuffed bear Aela had given her. Aurora was amazed to see the child throw the bear around and leap onto it good-humouredly. She was learning to accept the destiny of her parents, even though she could not possibly understand what had happened to them, and it made Aurora happy that the girl's days became predictable.

The woman sat on the floor next to her own bed, which was occupied by Katia and leaned against the mattress with one elbow as she watched her protégé. There were many women who would be better and more suitable carers for Katia, Aurora thought. Yes, the girl was not given the best cards to play in her life; being mixed race and an orphan, as well as having a warrior as patron. The war would mean that Aurora could not bring Katia with her for a considerable amount of time, and she worried about how the girl would react to that. To a one-year old, it would be the same as losing her parents once again, but what could Aurora do? The battle ground was not a suitable playground for anyone, let alone a toddler.

Aurora sighed and began to put her heavy armour over her leather jacket and trousers. She had already been given her first assignment by Galmar, and the others were most probably already waiting for her. After hugging and ensuring the child that she would return within a few hours, Aurora walked through the door and let the babysitter in. She continued through the corridors with her helmet in one hand and a map in the other. Her head was filled with thoughts as she tried to remember the storming of Solitude and her role in it – how she had led its later stage. She sighed – she would never turn into the natural leader Ulfric was. He came across as very confident, social and competitive, and she held a great respect for that.

Thinking of the trolls. Just as she approached the main door, the King crossed her path. He was alone, but barely looked at her. He must have been deep inside of his own mind, for Aurora recognised the way he walked when something troubled him.

"My King," she said and smiled slightly.

"Dragonborn," he concluded, bowed his head and continued straight forward.

"Why do you keep calling me _Dragonborn_, it's like we aren't familiar," she yelled after him.

The man stopped, sighed and turned around to meet her gaze. He stood five or six yards away from her and had a very thoughtful expression on his face.

"Anything else would be improper. Out of respect for your, and my titles, let's keep it the way things are," he answered and turned his heel.

Aurora cursed him loudly and opened the door. The last thing she needed now was his coldness. She did not owe him anything, even though she had waited too long to take care of Alduin. It had won her a peace of mind, and that was well needed as she was expected to go head first into war against the Thalmor.

As soon as she reached the courtyard, the sight of twenty or so soldiers met her. They seemed to be of a mixed quality; some stood with their heels together and looking straight ahead, others appeared rather confused – with their eyes flickering between the high tower, the entrance vault and different doors. Aurora sighed heavily and marched towards the group with determined steps.

"First goal: catch Aldmeri spies outside of Solitude," Aurora said loudly. "We are heading north west to interrupt about ten or fifteen enemies who after the closing of the Thalmor embassy have set up a new headquarter in a cave. I am Aurora Stormblade... Any questions?"

No one raised a hand or said anything. Aurora counted her soldiers to a squad of eighteen people, most of whom seemed unexperienced. After walking back and forth twice, the woman stopped in front of the the middle of the first row.

"Who is second in command?"

"I am, Officer. Olfina Grey-Mane of Whiterun," Aurora heard from the far left.

As she looked around, a young woman had stepped forward. It did not take long until Aurora realised who it was – Eorlund's daughter and Vignar, the Jarl of Whiterun's niece. The Imperial had run into Olfina a few times, but never paid much attention to her. The only thing she knew of Olfina was that she always complained that women had to be strong in Skyrim to gain male respect.

It seemed strange that a girl like Olfina had left home and become squad leader in Skyrim's army. Aurora had never seen the woman fight or train, let alone wear a uniform. If that was the quality of the leader, Aurora had much to fear when it came to the rest of the group, she figured.

"Good. Come with me. The rest – follow us!" she commanded nervously before turning her heel and marching towards the exit from the courtyard.

Olfina hurried towards Aurora and caught up with her as they were descending towards the main street. The officer threw a quick gaze at what Olfina was wearing and noticed that she had the same light armour that the rest of the group wore. Aurora had always favoured heavy armour, much due to her being taller than the average woman, as well as the fact that it suited her fighting technique better. She had never grown accustomed to the lighter versions and their, what Aurora considered to be, bad protection.

"Weren't you a barmaid or something?" she rudely asked Olfina.

"Yes, in my previous life," she answered whilst holding her head up high. "I have trained with the army for half a year. Began as a recruit, now I'm second in command."

"Good for you, Grey-Mane. Tell me of these men."

"Actually..." Olfina began. "I haven't worked with them yet."

Aurora looked at her in shock. She grew even more nervous. The last time she had led a group into battle, they had been experienced soldiers, not greenhorns like this group of milkdrinkers.

"When were you appointed leader of this squad again?" Aurora asked.

"Yesterday, Officer."

"Oh dear," she sighed. "They didn't say I'd lead a group of new-blood."

"I am everything but weak! And I will prove it to you, Officer."

Aurora laughed and hit her on the shoulder as they reached the city gates. This would sure be an adventure, she thought and shook her head. What had Galmar gotten her into?

* * *

The further away from Solitude they walked, the less did Aurora like the group. It was an arrogant bunch of men led by a woman who was even worse. It was not that she was unbearable, and in fact, Aurora could not decide upon whether if she found Olfina amusing or completely annoying. The woman had an edgy charm to her, even though she would do well by tuning it down a bit. _Cheeky_ would be the word to describe her, but not in the way Vecheslav was. Olfina was considerably less... refined.

"Where are we going, Officer?" a man moaned behind her.

Aurora looked at the map she had been given and studied the area closely. It did not look like they would have to walk for much longer, but the deep snow was difficult to get through, and the men lost unnecessary energy. The cave was about a mile around the corner of the mountain, but Aurora had another idea. There should be another cave at about the same height as the one they were heading to in the region, and after exploring a few caves and tombs on her own, she knew that there were often more than one exit. As soon as the woman looked up, she noticed a spotty teenager walking just a step behind her, watching over her shoulder.

"If you could just shut up so that no one hears us that would be great," she said coldly. "You are going after me, now get back in line and stop your mouth from moving."

She stopped and looked around while hearing how the others laughed at the youngster and hit him on the shoulder. Happy with herself, she smiled and finally found what appeared to be the place where the cave should be. It was hidden by a considerable amount of snow that had fallen from a cliff above it, but Aurora was sure that was it.

"You know that this is just a test for you?" Olfina asked self-importantly as she followed Aurora forwards.

"I am surprised by your arrogance, Olfina," Aurora answered. "But, yes. I am very aware of that. The King probably wishes for me to gain experience before he puts me in charge of a battalion or something."

"You don't seem very keen."

"I am not a natural leader, but I have accepted that it is my duty to lead Skyrim to victory," the woman stated before stopping in front of the mountain. "Here, we could take this way."

"I've been here before, watching the Thalmor. This day every month, they gather over there," Olfina said and pointed further ahead. "I think it's when they have meetings or such. Either way, I think we should try it first."

"No, we will go to their camp. If they are there, great, if not, we'll hide and take them by surprise," Aurora decided. "This cave, it has an exit on the other end, where they are supposedly stationed. We'll walk through it and see."

The woman climbed up on the pile of snow and began to clear it, throwing it to the sides. For a few moments, the men remained still before Olfina demanded that they too should help Aurora. It was freezing, but at least she wore gloves to protect her skin from the tearing cold. The men were useless, so she prepared to do everything on her own once they would encounter the enemy. That would be a problem, she guessed, considering their number.

Within minutes, they had cleared a space big enough for a full grown man to climb through. It was not comfortable, but they would all manage. It was completely dark inside, so Aurora ordered a soldier to lit a fire on an improvised torch. After that, she took it and slowly began her walk through the narrow walls.

It was difficult to determine exactly how far they had moved as the ground was very uneaven and the pace was very slow. The woman was immensely careful every time she turned around a corner, being afraid of walking directly into a Thalmor.

For a long time, they encountered nothing but rocks and more rocks, but after about ten minutes, Aurora suddenly noticed that they had reached a small cliff. The fall was about six yards, but it was not straight down. The ceiling hung half a yard away from the cliff, covering the hole. It was narrow, but everyone would get through it, even Aurora with her heavy, ebony armour. She was much more worried about the fall and the noise it would cause as an entire squad jumped down from it.

The woman thought for a while before whispering, asking if someone had a rope. It was sent to her from the back of the line a few moments later. She gave the torch to Olfina and ordered the rest of the men to hold onto the other end of the rope. She climbed down from it carefully, but she did not see any light on the other end, nor did she hear anything, so she continued until her feet touched ground. Aurora released the rope and continued forwards by touching the walls in the pitch black cave. It appeared to lead out into a larger space, for the sound of the water drops falling from the ceiling suddenly became louder. She did not see or hear anything else, though, so she decided that it was all clear.

The woman headed back and ordered Olfina and the rest to follow. Every soldier but one descended in the same way, with the last one crawling to the edge, reducing the distance he would have to fall. His fellow soldiers caught him, and Aurora decided to head further on.

They reached the larger area the woman had imagined and immediately found evidence of humans. There were about six or seven chests and tables in a room approximately twenty by fifteen yards with a height of about four grown men. The woman stopped and got down on knees, gesturing for Olfina to remain still whilst Aurora examined the chest closest to them. It did not appear to hold a trap, but she did not open it. It was more important to secure the entire cave at first.

They continued into what could be described as a corridor that turned to the right a few yards further on. By then, they had been in the cave for a considerable amount of time, yet they had not heard any voices at all, and it worried Aurora. Suddenly, someone jumped.

"Quiet!" Aurora hissed as she carefully stepped forwards.

She turned right, then left and then right once again before stopping abruptly. She had seen fire. Aurora pressed against the wall and took a deep breath, signaled to Olfina to remain still and slowly peeked around the corner. The woman saw another room, this time much larger than the previous one. It was at least fifty yards long, but the same in height and width. There was no one there, though.

She stepped forwards, this time with her torch lift to the level of her eyes. The room featured about twenty beds, a few more sacks, tables, wardrobes and other chests as well as a fire pit and a large dining table. It was obviously the place they were looking for, but without the Thalmor. Aurora continued forwards, and noticed that the large vault – about three men in width led to a short corridor that led outside, and she could see many footprints leading out into the forest. Aurora returned to the men and gathered her troops.

"The four of you – hide at the back. The eight of you, behind the sacks of food over there. You there! Above the wardrobe. The two of you, inside it. The rest, follow me."

The men immediately obeyed orders and hid where Aurora instructed them to. Olfina and two men followed the six leaps their leader took towards the vault.

"You, follow Olfina up there. I'll take this stone."

Olfina and her two soldiers climbed on top of the vault, which featured a small podium that was adequate for three people. Aurora herself climbed onto another podium to the left of the vault and sat there quietly.

* * *

Darkness fell. Aurora knew that based on the few beams of light that reached through the vault. They had been there for hours, and it did not look like they would be heading back to Solitude that night. She had not expected to be away for so long and began to worry for Katia. A moments later, she cursed herself for thinking about the child. She would be away for longer than that as soon as the real fighting began.

Suddenly, she heard a low sound of voices. There was laughter, even. Aurora determined them to be about twenty yards away, perhaps a bit closer. She quickly threw a gaze at Olfina, who nodded. The man on the wardrobe knocked on the top and gestured towards the rest. They were ready.

The Thalmor stopped just outside, with their leader searching for unknown footsteps. Proud of herself, Aurora smiled smugly. She had made the right choise and Ulfric would be very proud of her. After concluding that it was all clear, tired men and women walked through the vault. For a moment, Aurora considered to give signal and jump down right at the Thalmor, but after realising that most of them were unarmoured, she decided to wait. It was good that she did, because the fifteen enemies they were sent to interrupt turned out to be closer to thirty or forty. Most of them put their weapon away, lay down in bed or went to the fire pit to gain a little warmth. As she heard a man ordering another to go further in and fetch bread, Aurora gestured for Olfina's man to fire an arrow. She could not wait any longer, or she would expose them all. Instead, the Stormcloak fired and brought what looked like a commander to his knees. Eight more arrows followed, and the same number of Thalmor fell quickly.

"Attack!" Aurora yelled and jumped down, took down two by landing on them and punching them in the head and another by a short sword fight. Olfina followed, and as many of the Thalmor were unarmed and shocked, they were quickly neutralised. Many were not even warriors, but spies, and within moments they could hear:

"We give in!"

"Stop!" Aurora roared. "Thalmor, get down on the floor!"

They were so many. About fifteen men and five women brought their hands to their heads and lay down on their stomach, and that not counting the wounded who were unable to follow orders. Shocked, Aurora counted them to fourty four, with eight dead.

"Who is the leader?" she demanded to know as she stood in the middle of the sea of Thalmor. A man of about forty five in a shiny, elven armour stood up near the vault.

"Why are you so many? We were told you'd only be ten or so!" Aurora demanded to know as she walked up to him.

The man held his head up high and remained silent. He had a long, thin face with pointy eyes and ears as well as golden skin. A few stripes of dark hair emerged from beneath his helmet, Aurora noticed before turning around as she did not receive an answer.

"Have them all bound. We will stay the night. Olfina, organise a night watch. I am going to take a look at those documents further in."

* * *

Her head felt heavy. She was unused to office work, and reading document after document all night took its toll on her. Most letters did not contain anything of value, but she found a few that Ulfric could find interest in. There were names of spies, infiltrators as well as correspondence with some of the Dunmer households.

She had worked though most of the nigh, not allowing herself any sleep at all. Aurora wished to go through all letters before the morning when they could finally leave. Her plans were interrupted by a loud, long scream, though.

The woman jumped to her feet, her heart pounding. What if they had been attacked? She had not thought of it being a possibility due to the remoteness of the cave and the fact that they seemed to have taken most of the Thalmor working in northern Skyrim.

Aurora reached the room, but did not pay attention to anything or anyone inside of it. The scream had come from outside, so she leapt out. There were traces leading to the right from the entrance, but the snow was so bright that Aurora had to cover her eyes for a moment before growing used to the whiteness. Carefully, she squinted at the snow in front of her before raising her gaze. The sight made her blood boil.

She saw a young, prisoner elf on the ground and three of her soldiers standing around her. They had put something in her mouth to silence her and were busy trying to tear her trousers off.

"What is this?" Aurora demanded to know as she walked up to them. "What are you doing?"

The men looked at her, confused. In that moment, she grew to hate all their spotty, youngster faces and stupid smiles.

"You are not raping the prisoners!" she roared two inches away from one of her soldier's face.

She could not believe their cruelty, the arrogance and disobedience. Angry, Aurora stood there, bent over the soldier she had shouted at, not knowing whether if to punch or kill the teenager.

"Who are you to decide that?" another one suddenly exclaimed.

"I am your officer!" she screamed, this time at the other.

"And? Are you going to deprive your men of the little joy they can have?" the third laughed, exposing very bad teeth.

_Fucking farmers_, Aurora thought. If she would have her way, they would all be serving time in the prison cellar. She looked down at the terrified and bound, twenty-something Altmer before raising her gaze to her men once again.

"If any of my men even touches a female prisoner I will have their manhood cut off, including yours," she warned them. "Where is the rest of them?"

"What do you mean, Officer?" the first man asked, this time slightly worried.

"We had thirty six prisoners, where is the rest of them?"

Looking at how the three men in front of her suddenly lowered their heads, she realised that their answer would not be satisfying. One of them slowly raised his hand and pointed behind Aurora, to the other side of the cave.

The woman turned around and very quickly wished she had not. In an improvised pile, there were more bodies than she could count. Headless. Aurora covered her mouth in disgust.


	3. The missing Companion

The air in the Strategy room was thick and heavy. It was evident that the King and officers, soldiers and other people of different professions had spent most of the day there. Aurora had been back for three or so hours, but spent the time sleeping in her chamber due to working straight through the previous night. She had left the letters and reports they had found in the cave with Jorleif, but had not found time to see Katia.

Just as she left her chamber, heading towards the nursing room, a teenage servant stopped her and told her that Ulfric wanted to see her, so there she now was – waiting and listening to long reports that had nothing to do with her. There were many of them, about twenty, and the current speaker was a short but wide and bald man dressed in a smith's clothes. It took some time before she recognised him as Beirand, the Solitude blacksmith.

"The blacksmiths are complaining about long working hours, my King," the man reported nervously as he stood up and looked at Ulfric.

The King seemed rather bored and had taken his usual position where he was almost laying down in the chair with one hand brought to his chin. He was tired, though. He had black circles under his eyes, and his ever so perfect braids were slightly messy. In a way, Aurora found it amusing to see him in that state. Even Ulfric could be overworked.

"This is nothing unusual. We are preparing for war, what do they expect?" he sighed and covered half of his face in his left hand.

"We need more men, my King," Beirand continued, lifting his hands to the sides. "We simply cannot keep up with the pace, we are already working 14-hour shifts."

Ulfric remained silent and let his hand glide over his face tiredly. Aurora looked around in the room to calculate for how long she would have to remain there. If there was something she hated about being an officer besides from leading imbeciles into battle, it would be the endless meetings and reports. The woman disliked bureaucracy and crowded places. There were a few other of her rank in the room, but most seemed to be people she had never seen before. It was interesting to see what kind of people war attracted.

"There is not a blacksmith left anywhere in the western Skyrim. If they need help, I will order the Jarls to send people from Whiterun and Riften," Ulfric stated after a while. Beirand smiled quickly and sat down as the King's gaze turned to a blond man. "Ralof?"

"Yes, my King," he answered and stood up. "The mission was to stop a Dunmer spy operation in Windhelm. We were successful and arrested four elves and two sacks of correspondence. Nothing indicates that they are collaborating with the Thalmor," he spoke oficially.

"Excellent, excellent," Ulfric smiled. "Elsgard?"

A short, red haired woman in her late thirties or early forties stood up with a serious expression. She had arrived at roughly the same time as Aurora, but from the other door. The woman cleared her throat and presented the King with a letter. Her face and hands were dirty, but her clothes even more so.

"The Redguard report that Thalmor soldiers have been transferred to Valenwood. About fifty ships have left the Summerset isles and arrived in Woodhearth," she spoke with a relatively low voice.

Aurora was hungry. _What time was it already? Four or maybe five? _she thought. She really wanted to sleep before dinner. The meeting could simply not be any more boring than it already was. The only interesting aspect of it was to observe all the new people.

"So they are preparing to strike Cyrodiil," the King suddenly exclaimed, straightened up and leaned over the table.

Aurora realised that she had been slightly mentally absent and that this would be considered a major turn of events. The other guests began to move their weight nervously from one leg to another, whisper and search other people's gazes. Even the King buried his face in his hands for a second before letting the fingers run through his hair.

"We have too few men, my King" And the Empire would not last a single battle," Kottir Red-Shoal exclaimed and jumped to his feet.

"Indeed, my King. We can not afford a head on attack on the main army," Frorkmar Banner-Torn added, reacting in the same manner as his fellow officer.

"Do we have a strategy, my King?" Yrsarald Thrice-Pierced asked, seeking leadership.

"I need to speak to the leaders of Hammerfell first," Ulfric answered calmly.

"They will be in Falkreath before we even..." Frorkmar began, cursing.

"They will not take Skyrim that quickly. Cyrodiil will be of much more interest," Yrsarald concluded.

"So we leave Cyrodiil to fall?" Frorkmar asked.

"Yes," the King said, making everyone look at him. "Enough of this. Ogneta, take this to Hammerfell as quickly as you can," he said and let his right hand search for something inside of his inner, left pocket.

He withdrew it a few seconds later and handed a letter to the short, dirty woman who had informed him about the situation. She nodded and quickly set off. The rest of the people in the room observed Ulfric carefully, looking for leads on how much trouble they were in.

"Gather all the men," he ordered Yrsarald. "Meet up at the southernmost Hammerfell-Skyrim border in three weeks. We are going to take the Thalmor by surprise."

As people began to move towards the exit, the whispers turned into loud concerns and "what ifs". In the midst of this, the King approached a man in his middle twenties and handed him a roll of paper.

"Send this to High Rock. Quickly!"

Assuming the meeting was over, Aurora stood up and headed towards the other door, leading into the castle. She was confused. It did not make any sense to her that the Thalmor would attack the Empire that had nothing to do with the conflict at all. The woman did not go far before she heard Ulfric calling for her.

"Dragonborn, report."

She turned around to see that most people had left the room, except for the ones standing in line by the vault on the other side. The King had his arms crossed and a very tired expression on his face. Puzzled, she remained silent for a while before opening her mouth.

"The mission was to interrupt spy activity. We walked through a cave and found the enemy's camp, hid and made a surprise attack. Thirty three people dead, none of which were ours."

"Great!" he said unenthusiastically.

"Also, I need to remark on the low discipline of your men," she spitted, challenging him with her gaze.

"I thought their morale was rather strong," he smiled semi-smugly.

"Oh yes, but so were their erections."

The King burst out into a short laughed before noticing Aurora's killing gaze. He threw his arms to the sides and raised his eyebrows as if to as "what?".

"They raped the female prisoners and killed the males!" Aurora complained.

"This is war, Dragonborn. Those who cannot defend themselves..."

"How can you defend...?" she asked, feeling how the anger brought a red tone to her face.

"They are young, let them have their fun," he laughed. "Besides, the elves would do the same to our civilians."

They stood about four yards from one another, staring into the other one's eyes. Upset with him like never before, the woman walked up to him. She was shorter than him, but almost as wide-shouldered. With her eyes burning with anger, she was not a woman to be tempered with.

"It's wrong," she stated.

"It's war," Ulfric answered.

"Have you raped, my King?"

He went quiet for a while, thinking of what to say to calm Aurora down. She could see that he did not have a satisfactory answer to that question and that he would stutter.

"Dragonborn... I..." he began, trying to laugh it off.

Aurora gave him a rather cold gaze, instantly wiping the stupid grin off his face. He sighed and looked at her with a tired gaze.

"Yes..."

"Did you enjoy it?" she quickly asked, disappointed and with tears burning behind her eyelids.

"Dragonborn..."

Aurora turned around and headed towards the door. Never had she had so little respect for him as in that moment. He was the King, a mentor she could always turn to. A friend. She could not imagine him being a brute, especially since he was and had always been popular with the ladies – both as a strong warrior and the son of a Jarl.

"My commander instructed me to!" he yelled after her, trying to cover up.

"You men disgust me," Aurora exclaimed and turned around in the doorway.

"Not that it matters, but remember the woman you killed in this room a year ago – Legate Rikke?" he asked as if he had come up with an idea of avoiding his officer's rage.

"Your old flame?" she asked judgmentally.

He was not prepared for that. He was _not_ prepared for that, and it amused Aurora to see the King lose himself.

"How do you even...? Well... Either way, she was my commander. War is war, it's time for you to learn. It's not as if the men are much better off, in fact, I'd say the opposite."

"Don't think you'd say those words if you'd been raped by a battalion," the woman spitted.

"I've been though more than you think, Dragonborn," Ulfric answered calmly with what could only be interpreted as a wink.

They stood there, silently, looking at the other, trying to figure out who the other one really was. Aurora had heard those words before, but understood that there was more to them than he let her know. Ulfric must have wondered what in Nirn she had been up to for half a year and asking himself when she became as rude, arrogant and straight forward as him.

If she had not hated him there and then, she would have embraced him for being the stubborn, hot-tempered idiot he was. The icebrain even dared to smile! The woman sighed and shook her head before turning her heel to the sound of the King's laughter.

"The Companions are here, Officer!" she suddenly heard and turned around.

The sound had come from a young man called Jordgun who seemed to serve as a quartermaster. He had shown quite a few people to their chambers and met some important officials, but his entire face lit up as he proclaimed the arrival of the warriors. As a matter of fact, Aurora's did the same.

"I have letters to write, so I will meet them here in two hours," Ulfric told Aurora and walked past her.

Her heart jumped and a silly smile spread across the woman's face. She would see Vilkas again! How she had missed the man. _Her_ man. It had only been a fortnight, but she had looked forward to sleep in the man's arms again. Well, not in his arms, but at least next to him. Aurora never felt as good as when she could feel his scent close to her and hear his heavy breathing. In this frustrating and confusing time, he was her rock. He was the one she fought the war for – a future with him. Excited, she leapt around the corner and towards the vault before stopping. Aela, Ria, Farkas and Njada, as well as three new ones she had not met before stood by the entrance door.

"Aela!" Aurora exclaimed and hugged her shield-sister. Her relationship with Ria had always been cold, but she quickly embraced her too. "Njada, Farkas!" she continued. "New ones."

"This is Argis, hailing form Markarth," Aela said and proudly presented a rather big and muscular man with some red war paint on his right cheek. "He came to us half a year ago. Iona is a fiery sister from the Rift. Calder came two months ago."

"Please, follow Jordgun," Aurora said after shaking hands. "He will take you to your chambers. The King will greet you tonight."

The young quartermaster, still red faced due to the excitement, jerked and asked the group to follow him through the castle. Aurora joined Aela at the back of the line as the rest of the Companions hurried after Jordgun. It was only then Aurora realised that Vilkas was not waiting outside or organised the horses, and she was left disappointed and perplexed. Aela did not have to even look at her shield-sister. She knew it hurt her not to find her companion amongst the crowd.

"He said the Companions haven't anything to do with the war," Aela began.

"I understand. It's fine. His father went to war and never returned," Aurora brushed it off.

"Someone has to keep the fire in Jorrvaskr," the older woman winked. It was a faint try to cheer her up, but Aurora appreciated it nevertheless. She just could not understand why he would not show up, even if it was only to be with his woman before the fighting began.

"Exactly..." Aurora lied. "Did he send me a letter or something?"

"How is the girl?" Aela quickly asked.

"She is fine. I arranged for a nurse," Aurora replied, sighing.

They walked through the endless corridors, the Companions laughing and rejoicing about the fact that they finally had a clean and warm bed, but Aurora could only think of the disappointment of not having Vilkas there. Regardless of the circumstances, if he planned to go to war or not, he should have come if only to be with her, she thought. She would have dropped everything herself and gone to him had they been in the other one's boots.

Jordgun opened a door and gestured for Aela and Njada to go inside. Aurora followed them, still deep in her own thoughts. She tried to push them away and focus on her companions, but the feeling of betrayal and hurt remained.

"Thank you, Aela. I hope that this will do for Njada and you. I'll check on the rest," she stated before leaving the chamber.

Ria and Iona lived next door to Aela and Njada. Their room looked exactly like the rest fancy chambers. Aurora quickly regretted knocking on their door and walking in as she saw Ria's gaze. They had a very rocky start to their relationship all that time ago when Aurora first laughed at Ria's crush on Vilkas, and it had not gotten better. She felt the cold gaze given by the other woman.

"I hope this isn't too uncomfortable to you..." Aurora began nervously.

"What do you mean?" Ria asked, unaffectedly.

"You know... with Vilkas and all..." Aurora continued.

She only received a confused facial expression from the other woman who was unpacking her rucksack a few yards away from her. Wondering what could possibly be unclear, Aurora cleared her throat. Did Ria pretend not to know? Why?

"With us being together...?" Aurora continued.

"You're together?" she asked, unable to hide her surprise.

"You didn't know?"

"Well... Uh, congratulations," Ria said and crossed her arms.

* * *

Aurora had gone to the nursery and spent some time with Katia, who after eating her supper went to sleep. The girl did not want to let go of Aurora, so the woman stayed with her until the child had fallen asleep. After that, the woman took a quick walk back to Castle Dour after being promised that Ilva the nurse would bring Katia to her if she woke up and needed something.

Twenty minutes after leaving the Blue Palace and just as Aurora engaged in a conversation with the Companions, the young Nord hurried inside of the Strategy room with a sobbing toddler in her arms.

"I'm sorry, milady, but she keeps repeating your name!"

"It's fine, I'll take her," Aurora sighed tiredly.

She sat directly to the right of the main chair with Farkas next to her and Aela sitting on the other side of the table. Aurora took Katia and arranged her little poke bonnet, which covered her ears. Just as she did so, the King walked in. He seemed to be in a very good mood, but that also made him look tediously pompous and self absorbed. He entered the room with large, confident steps and greeted the Companions enthusiastically. The women tried to hide their laughter whilst Farkas and the new ones looked at Ulfric with a puzzled gaze. As he was about to sit down, the King suddenly noticed the child in Aurora's arms.

"Why are you holding a child, Aurora?" he asked with wrinkled brows and a slight sense of panic in his tone.

"Oh, so I'm Aurora now?" she asked sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes and brought his hands to the table, leaning over it-

"Honoured guests, warriors... People of Skyrim."

"Skip to why we are here," Aela demanded harshly.

The King lost himself, and it made Aurora smile. The man was short for words and did not know how to handle the group of full blood warriors. After a few moments of silence, he took a deep breath and continued:

"Teach recruits how to fight."

Katia began to sob even harder, and Aurora took her to her shoulder and rocked her up and down, hoping it would silence her. The groups eyes were turned towards her without her noticing, but to Ulfric, it became evident that it was not his leadership they sought.

"Hey, Aurora. Is it true? About the war?" Njada asked.

"I wouldn't call you to Solitude if it wasn't."

"What are the stakes?" Aela continued.

"If we don't do anything now, they will march on Skyrim sooner or later," she guessed.

"Are you sure?" Farkas asked with a slight sense of worry.

"Aright, Aurora. But this has nothing to do with the Companions. We are here as citizens of Skyrim," Aela stated. "Now, where's the canteen?"

She got up, prompting the others to do the same. Farkas smiled and stroke his belly. Their reaction was completely different to that of the jarls and officers, and it shocked Ulfric. Within minutes, the group had gotten up and left the room, heading for the courtyard, leaving Aurora, Katia and Ulfric on their own.

"What kind of people are these?" he exclaimed. "And don't you think it would be good to... I don't know... _warn me about the child_?!"

"And what should I tell you exactly? _My King_," she added sarcastically as she continued to rock Katia up and down whilst pinning her gaze to the table in front of her.

"Do I have a child, Aurora? I _shouldn't _have a child, we were always careful..." he said, sounding worried.

"If you are half-Khajiit then she might be yours," Aurora answered nonchalantly.

She put Katia in her lap and removed her bonnet, exposing the girl's ears. The man sighed and leaned back, laughing silently of relief.

"Who are her parents and why are you dragging her along? Where did you find her?!" he asked as he placed his arms behind his back.

"Her parents were murdered by bandits in Morrowind. I knew her father, and now the girl is my protégé. Well, mine and the Companions."

"You should have left her for dead."

"How fortunate that you weren't there to command me then."

"As if you'd ever listen," he said, laughing.


	4. Olfina and Harrald

Aurora had walked around with the letter all day, not knowing if she should give it to a currier or not. Vilkas had not written to her at all, and she feared coming across as too clingy and desperate if she took the first initiative yet again. It was just that she wanted a sign from him that he missed and thought of her, that he cared for the woman. Was he upset with her for not writing earlier? Was he upset because the letter she sent to Whiterun was addressed to the entire group?

Realising that she would not become any wiser by just considering the different possibilities, she took Katia and carried her downstairs. She had gotten dressed and even wore her armour as she wished to take a walk to the docks with the child in order for her to play on the frozen river. The winter of 4E 203 – 204 was very cold, and a lot of snow had fallen in the northern regions of Skyrim. The coastline was frozen and firewood was in high demand. It had not been easy to find a thick winter coat and boots for Katia as most of the leather was used to make uniforms for the soldiers.

As she walked down the stairs with the girl in one hand and the letter in the other, carefully taking step by step as she could not see properly, she ran into Ulfric who seemed to be on his way to her chamber. The woman quickly realised that her plans for the day would have to change as the King wore his full armour.

"Dragonborn! You've been to Hammerfell, haven't you?" he asked as he met her in the stairs.

"Yes, your Majesty," she sighed and tried to change her grip of Katia.

"Gods! You're walking around with... that," he exclaimed.

"Not that – _her_," Aurora corrected him.

To her surprise, he was smiling and petting the child's face with two of his fingers. Katia had grown well – especially her teeth, which she now used to bite everything that came close to her. The King smiled and retreated, catching Aurora's gaze instead.

"I want you to travel with me."

"Oh, I don't know the cities. I spent my time there with nomadic tribes or small villages..." she began before realising that she had said too much. It was not really relevant.

"Doesn't matter. We are to negotiate a temporary truce between the Crowns and Forebears in order for the entire Hammerfell to rebel against the Thalmor. I want you to come with me as my officer," he continued calmly.

"Why not Galmar? Or your wife, your Majesty?" Aurora sighed.

She did not wish to follow him on missions that concerned diplomacy or administration, especially since it would mean that she would have to spend a considerable amount of time away from Katia and Skyrim. She would be further away from Vilkas too, and it was a bad time for that since she was not sure about how he felt about the fact.

"Galmar is busy with recruiting a reserve. I do not let my wife interfere in politics, and _definitely_ not warfare," he smiled smugly. "Besides, this is as secret as it can get. Chose a soldier, but keep it quiet," he spoke and turned around, beginning his descent.

"Aela," Aurora said after him.

"You can't take the Companions, I need them to train my troops!" the man said and turned around to face the woman again.

"Fine. Olfina then," the woman spoke. She would have crossed her arms to show her dismay, had she not held a child and her important letter.

The King nodded to a servant who quickly left them and headed towards the exit to the Strategy room. He seemed to be in a good mood, at least after speaking to Aurora. The man clapped his hands and looked at the woman in front of him.

"We are meeting them in Skaven, and we have a tough time schedule to follow," he spoke, winking.

He turned around and disappeared out of eyesight, and Aurora sighed loudly, turning around. She walked up the stairs again whilst she held the little girl tightly, but stopped as soon as she saw a maid a few steps away.

"I have to go away for a while, Katia, but I will be back as soon as I can. Forgive me," she said, looking into the girl's eyes and rocking her slightly.

The woman hugged her before handing her over to the maid. She felt bad for Katia and what she was putting her through. One day, she would return, though, and give the child a stable upbringing. Hopefully, she would be less affected by the war than Vilkas and Farkas once were. It was far into the future, though, and it sounded like she would be returning to Solitude after going to Hammerfell with the King.

Aurora hurried to her chamber and quickly packed a small bag with mittens and a sleeping sack before throwing it over her shoulder and almost forgetting her letter. She took it and handed it to the first passer by she saw in the corridor before heading towards the Strategy room. For the first time since returning to Skyrim, she saw the table without a ton of maps, letters and orders on it. There were two soldiers watching the entrance door, but it was much calmer than what she had gotten used to.

The woman continued through the vault and door and was met by a very bright sunshine. Aurora squinted and brought a hand up to her forehead. There were six people sitting on horses, awaiting Aurora and Ulfric. The King rode up to her from the left and presented her with a horse of her own.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure," Aurora answered and got up in the saddle.

She had only done that with a heavy armour a few times, and she had been very right when she told Vecheslav that it was impossible to do so with grace. He always complained about her crawling up on the horse.

Amongst the six others, she saw four soldiers including Olfina, a short and petite woman who Aurora assumed was a courier and a young nobleman. It struck her that it was an odd gathering of people, especially considering their mission.

"Let's set off, ladies," Ulfric said enthusiastically and trotted away.

They rode through the city and towards the gates, Ulfric ordering the town guards to open them. Aurora decided to let the King take the lead and placed herself at the back of the group, thinking it was strategic to have an experienced warrior protecting the back. It only took a few minutes before the noble man sacked behind the rest of the group and joined Aurora.

"I'm Harrald Law-Giver, grandson of Jarl Laila," he said as they were heading down the straight path leading up to Solitude.

"Aurora, the Dragonborn," she introduced herself without looking at the man.

"A pleasure," Harrald laughed.

Ulfric seemed very happy to be going away on an adventure and led the way forwards towards Dragon Bridge. Aurora had travelled that distance many times before, and looked forward to seeing Markarth, which was a pit stop before crossing the mountains. It did not seem as a well-planned trip, though, and Aurora did not really put much trust into her companions.

"Long trip. Ever been to Hammerfell before?" Aurora asked the man as she realised he wanted to start a conversation.

She took a look at him and realised that she had met him before, long ago in Riften. He was of average height, muscular and wore a steel plate armour over what looked like a fine, blue jacket. Aurora would never wear something as thin as that since they were crossing the mountains, but figured that the Nords were a very different people.

"No, my grandmother's kept me busy in Riften. You?"

"Yes, many years ago," Aurora sighed.

"How's their civil war?"

"I never noticed anything like it," she answered, confused.

"Really, I heard their power struggle's turned rather sour."

"Why so? What struggle?"

The man looked at her in utter disbelief, as if she has just claimed that dragons were not real. Aurora bit her lip and wondered how she could possibly have missed a civil war.

"Um... Between the Crowns and Forebears. Imagine how Skyrim would be with the power split between the Gray-Manes and Battle-Borns. How can you not have noticed?"

"Don't know. I never went to the larger towns I guess."

It was true – she had only been in small villages or with the nomadic tribes. Besides, politics had never concerned her even the slightest bit. It was only when she met Ulfric for the second time she decided to ask about what was going on in the northern land, and that had only been due to the fact that they had tried to execute her a year earlier.

"I've read so much about Hammerfell, and finally, I was given an opportunity to go," the man smiled, dreamingly.

"Why are they fighting?" she asked, trying to remember clues from her trip there.

"Oh, they always have. For as long as man can remember. After the Great War, they managed to decide upon a truce between one another and drive out the Thalmor, but it has fallen apart by now. The King is headed there to talk them into a temporary truce so that we can fight the elves together," Harrald said, still looking into the horizon. "They don't expect that – the elves. They think that they can take Cyrodiil, then Skyrim and maybe even Hammerfell without much effort by fighting us one by one. They don't know it yet, though, that the King has allied himself with High Rock... under condition that Hammerfell joins it too that is."

"And why is this so secret? Would it not be better to just show them that we are too strong to be fought against?" Aurora asked with her forehead wrinkled.

"Thing is... we aren't. That's why we are to make a surprise attack whilst the elves take Cyrodiil."

Aurora thought for a moment. Ulfric's plan seemed to be balancing on a thin twig, and she could only imagine what would happen if the Redguard decided not to cooperate, and by that forcing Skyrim to stand alone against the elves.

"This sure is going to be bloody," Aurora said after a while.

"Yes, this is the Second Great War," Harrald spoke, still dreaming of what Aurora could only be honour and success.

"Is it inevitable?"

"By now it is, yes. The elves have brought their main troop to Valenwood. A few more weeks, and they will march into Cyrodiil. We'll wait for them to do that and leave a smaller army to protect their supply ways and northern Valenwood. Then we'll strike it. Hopefully, we'll take out a third of their army in a battle. The Alliance will have three major armies fighting against a third of the Thalmor's."

"But we aren't sure that we have an alliance at all. If the Redguard refuse... Then so will the Bretons?"

"That is why this meeting will be so important."

"And he brought me to show off in front of the Redguards..." she mumbled and gritted her teeth.

* * *

"You don't wear a wedding band," he said, smiling smugly.

Aurora looked at the man and rolled her eyes. They were crossing the river outside of Dragon Bridge, and the King had decided not to go first anymore, sending Harrald to lead the troop. The woman's hands were freezing, and she desperately tried to warm them by blowing warm air into the gloves. It did not work too well as the moist breath only made it all worse, but they could still ride for a few more hours before setting up camp.

"Why would I?" Aurora asked nonchalantly, expecting him to tease her.

"Are you married?" he asked, again with the same smile.

"No, not yet..."

"Are you engaged?"

"No..."

He laughed, and Aurora did not like the fact that he did. It was if he was teasing her, and it made her upset. He laughed for way too long for it to be just a comment, so the woman made an annoyed expression and turned to him.

"What?"

"It's ridiculous that I ever worried," he laughed, arrogantly as always.

"Excuse me?"

"About that man you left me for. He didn't take you back, did he?"

"He did, actually."

Aurora tilted her head slightly upwards and straightened her back as to shake off the King's erroneous comment. Pleased with herself, she smiled slightly and turned her gaze to the road in front of her.

"But he hasn't promised you anything."

"That is merely a question of time."

"Something you may not have enough of," he said, trying to end the conversation. "This is war, Dragonborn. Any day could be your last."

"I know that."

"So wouldn't you rather die his as wife?" he asked and prepared his horse to set off.

"Who are you to tell me this?" Aurora asked, with her forehead wrinkled and with an upset tone.

"If he hasn't promised you anything by now, he never will," Ulfric winked and set off.

He slowed down as he reached the short woman who had taken the lead whilst he was busy elsewhere. Annoyed, Aurora yelled after him:

"Sorry, I don't take relationship advise from someone who _hates_ his wife!"

He turned around, laughing smugly. Not as much at her comment as to prove that she was wrong. Aurora was not happy about the situation and gritted her teeth, cursing the man. Olfina noticed and decided to tease her for it.

"He is handsome, the King. I can't blame you for falling for him," she said and winked as she came up to her side.

"I didn't fall for him," Aurora mumbled angrily. "Vilkas is my partner."

"Vilkas!?" the woman exclaimed.

Aurora slowly turned her head towards the woman next to her, raising her eyebrows in the process.

"Why?" she calmly asked, but with a killing gaze.

"No, nothing," Olfina said shamelessly.

"Thought so," Aurora stated and turned her eyes to the road in front of them again.

"Just... you seem to have an unlikely companionship."

The woman laughed once at Olfina's overconfidence. She just did not know when to give up. It was fun to be around people like her, as long as one was not on the receiving side of their remarks. Once more, she turned to face the woman in the saddle next to her and tilted her head condescendingly.

"Oh, like Olfina and Jon?"

Olfina's eyes widened, and she quickly tore her gaze away from the officer, nailing it to the horse's mane. Aurora enjoyed teasing her; there was no doubt about it. Women like Olfina deserved to be punched in their egos once in a while, and Aurora would never walk away from an opportunity like that.

"The only ones not knowing about your relationship must be your families," she continued gleefully. "So spare me the suffering."

"You may be officer and Dragonborn and all that, but you don't look like you could match Vilkas. I've lived in the same town as he my whole life, I know what he's like," she stated silently.

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't exactly make the best impact on my squad," Olfina laughed and looked up on Aurora, changing the subject.

"Do you want me to push you off your horse?" Aurora asked as if she was fed up with the discussion.

"I'd love to see you try," Olfina smiled and leaned forwards, making a patronising facial expression, which the other woman hated.

She liked her arrogance, though. There was a certain charm to it, and it was refreshing to be around another woman who clearly possessed a fighter's soul. It could be too much at times, but that only made things more interesting. As Olfina retreated to her saddle, Aurora quickly turned her gaze away before sticking her foot out, straight at Olfina and kicking her out of her saddle.

A moment later, she heard her fall to the ground with an annoyed and slightly shocked cry. Everyone else in the group stopped, turned around and looked at the two women. Olfina remained with her arse on the ground and a confused expression on her face, whilst Aurora struggled not to laugh.

"Keep going, we'll sort this out ourselves," Olfina mumbled after a while.

The group continued forwards, but Harrald came to Olfina's rescue, but to no avail. Aurora felt for him – he was only trying to be a gentleman, but it did not work too well with the hostile Nord.

"I'm fine! Let go of me!" Olfina commanded. "You think that just because I'm a woman, I can't get back up at the horse again?"

"No, I just wanted to..."

"Well, don't! And go ahead, can't you see we are busy?" she exclaimed.

Aurora giggled as the man shook his head and got back up on his horse, whispering something about the strange woman he tried to help. It was good that Olfina was busy trying to get back up in her armour and did not hear the exact words, for she did not look like a woman who would decline a fight.

"I brought you because I liked you. Never thought you'd serve as entertainment too," Aurora laughed as Olfina crawled up.

"Did you see that?" Ulfric suddenly yelled.

"What?" she heard a soldier ask.

"Movement, by the trees over there!"

Aurora turned her gaze towards where Ulfric pointed and immediately noticed the golden armour reflect the evening sun. They were about a hundred yards away, hiding amongst the trees, but there was no doubt about the fact that they were followed.

"Thalmor!" the short woman shouted.

"Kill them, immediately!" Harrald yelled.

Aurora pulled the reins tighter, making the horse distribute more weight to the rear legs. It gave out a cry before setting off after the elves.

* * *

They had made a decent fire and retreated into a small cave some fifty yards away from the road. Darkness had fallen and they had all worked hard to fix something to eat, take care of the horses and prepare for the following day. Aurora was very tired after hunting down a deer on foot, cutting out the eatable pieces and building a makeshift holder that was placed over the fire. Her hands ached after the long day out in the cold and her lips were dry and chipped.

The woman had nothing against long travels, but she hated the cold climate. She was the only non-Nord in the group and did therefore not wish to complain even though she realised that it would only get worse as they approached the mountains.

She sat back and leaned against the rock behind her, covering herself with a pelt and jumping into the sleeping sack. Her hands still bore the smell of deer meat, but she could not be bothered to wash it away in the cold water.

"Where did you learn to ride like that?" Ulfric asked as he passed her.

"Morrowind," she answered sentimentally.

Ulfric nodded quickly disappeared, leaving Aurora alone to her thoughts. Yes, she was improving, and she was proud of herself. Laughing, she imagined hearing Vecheslav's voice. _Well, look at you! Your riding is almost decent._ She sighed as she remembered the tall, bastard son of Anvil.

Harrald approached her and put his things about a yard away before making himself comfortable. Apparently, he had been appointed night guard, so he kept his sword close by and settled for the evening. It did not take long before he took a book out of his bag, put it in his lap and began reading it.

He was an interesting person to bring on a trip like that, Aurora thought. It had been a while since she properly spoke to Nords her age, and Harrald seemed to know much of the world. Looking at his lap, she noticed that the book was richly decorated with a golden pattern across the left side of the front and the right on the back.

"What are you reading?" she asked him, struggling to keep awake.

"_The Midnight Beast_ by R. Goldwine," Harrald answered and showed her the cover.

"What is that, a classic?" she sighed with her eyes half-closed.

"No," he laughed. "It's modern day Imperial. I got it from a friend who went to the Imperial City."

"You haven't been to the Imperial City either?"

"As I said, grandmother would not let me anywhere."

"There's a huge world out there," Aurora mumbled as she lay down and made herself comfortable.

"Sadly, this is my only opportunity to see it," he said in a low tone.

"Do the most out of it, then," she suggested before turning around.

Aurora was terribly tired, and she drifted away almost immediately, yet different dreams interrupted others, giving her no rest. She saw no good, and only remotely realistic ones.

There was a male figure with a blurry head, but she did not know who it was. As glimpsing moments passed, she began to feel... empathy for him. Gradually, she learned to know the man. She did not know how he looked, but felt a stronger and stronger connection with him as the seconds passed. The woman felt that something very bad would happen to him and complete helplessness, for she eventually she saw him as a son or brother. Aurora saw pictures of him, smiling with glittering eyes. She did not see the exact place, but she recognised it – the same way she saw him. It was as if she had known the man for her entire life, but his face remained blurry. Only his eyes were shown, but they were an almost turquoise colour that Aurora had never seen before.

In the last seconds of her dream, he called for her, slowly and with his eyes. The woman jerked and awoke, tearful and frightened, but still not knowing the man she was grieving.


	5. The Redguard Stick

The sun stood high – it must have been noon as they arrived to the outskirts of Skaven. Aurora had been told that it was one of Iskander Ra-Gada, the King of the Forebears residences. The night had been very cold, so she had slept in her warm clothes and simply put the armour on in the morning. A few hours after the sun had risen, it had become unbearable due to the heat, and she had managed to remove her jacket whilst on the horse. That was a decision she did not regret at the moment, looking at Olfina and the rest of the soldiers. Only the short woman wore clothes resembling Aurora's.

The palace was not as big and magnificent as the woman had hoped. It had a very nice garden with many trees, pathways, bushes, flowers, fountains and pools, but the main palace consisted of a roof with pillars in each of the corners. The King sat on a throne a foot higher than the rest of his people, who had gathered on low sofas that ran through the room on each of the sides. The building consisted of two parts; the place where the King kept his company, and a lower part a few steps down where soldiers, nobles and rich people communicated vividly. This lay in front of the King's room, and the people there were the first to notice the Skyrim delegation.

The front of the mass went silent as they noticed Ulfric and hurried to the sides. The middle section did the same, and soon, Ulfric caught the eye of King Iskander. He gestured for him to come closer, and Ulfric walked forwards in a slow, almost arrogant manner. Aurora followed him and inspected what she assumed was a meeting or throne room.

The pillars were made of richly decorated wood. There were horses carved and painted there, soldiers at arms, gods and a long, green flower that spread from the bottom of the pillar to the top. Looking up, she noticed that even the ceiling was decorated in a golden pattern of curves and circles.

"His Majesty, High King Ulfric Stormcloak of Skyrim," a man said.

Aurora looked straight ahead. They had reached the stairs leading up to the second, main part of the bungalow. A very short and fat man sat next to King Iskander. His eyes were completely round and bulging, and he had a stupid little tail on the middle of his head, with the rest of it being completely shaved. His lips were full and fingers brought to the chest, making him look like a skeever.

Ulfric stepped forward, sheepishly proud and walked up to the King, who straightened his back. Iskander was a tall and slim man in his forties, with a dark skin tone, like the rest of his people. His nose was wide, but of average size. The eyes were big and open, but not to the same extent as his advisor's, and his hair was cut short. The man did not have a beard that could have hidden his long and pointy chin. Aurora inspected his clothes. He wore a red vest, decorated in the same golden pattern as the ceiling, with a yellowish white tunic beneath. His pants were of a soft and light fabric, and only covered the middle of his calf. His shoes were of a very typical sort – leather on the underside with bindings holding them on place.

There were many people to observe, and even more of the architecture and plants, so Aurora quickly lost interest in the Kings' matters. By then, they had introduced themselves and engaged in a conversation. Aurora and the rest of the Skyrim delegation had moved to the side, placing themselves near a sofa about six or seven yards away from the regents. The Dragonborn was discreetly examining the nobles from the top to the bottom as Olfina poked her in the side.

"It's so hot here!" Olfina mumbled to Aurora, who had her gaze fixed at a very stern looking woman across the room. "Do you think I can slip away and remove my jacket?"

"No!" Aurora hissed. "This is important!"

She had thought of the bright sun and only wore her tunic beneath the armour, but it was still sweaty and stinky nevertheless. Olfina along with the rest of the soldiers, on the other hand, did not manage to undress on the horseback. Aurora could only imagine how warm they must have been.

"They are looking at us funnily," Olfina said as she noticed what her officer was staring at.

Aurora giggled, but kept her gaze pinned to the other side of the room. She looked more to the left, towards Ulfric and Iskander's side and noticed a man sitting on a fine, golden chair with a few servants around him. He was of average height, but equally slim as Iskander, and a few years younger. It did not take long for Aurora to realise that he must have been the other King – the Crowns'.

"I know! But look at their Kings. I mean, the feathers, they are just too much!" Aurora whispered to Olfina.

He wore a headband with different feathers sticking straight out of it at the top. They were of diverse size, colours and patterns and looked ridiculous.

"Have you seen his footwear?" Olfina commented.

Aurora looked down, noticed two feet in sandals with small, feather decorations on them. She tried hard not to laugh and took a deep breath, turning her gaze to the boiling Olfina. The other woman had a more difficult time with controlling her facial expressions, and it did not make it easier for Aurora either.

"This is the Dragonborn," she suddenly heard Ulfric say. "Aurora."

"Yes?" she asked as she quickly turned her head around.

The King was not looking at her, but on a man who had placed himself within one and a half yards of her with his sword in the right hand.

"Engarde," the man spoke and leapt forwards before Aurora had time to understand the situation.

The woman instinctively ducked and rolled over further to the right, away from the three Kings. She did not wear her helmet, and she had no shield with her either. Annoyed at herself for leaving them on the horse, she reached for her sword and quickly drew it upwards, parrying the Redguard. As she heard the steel against her ebony, Aurora moved back to the left, span around and parried again. The man was a quick swordsman who used a tactic that Aurora had not encountered in years.

He was much too quick for her to attack as she normally did, and she lacked both helmet and shield, so she could not simply throw herself forwards. Instead, she had to rely on her reactions and wait until he committed a mistake. Surprisingly, the man quickly stopped, removed his helmet and turned to Ulfric.

"Your officer fights like a Redguard."

"Your lands taught her most of what she knows," the King smiled self-confidently.

Aurora felt sick hearing him flatter the Redguards. Breathing heavily, and still in shock over the sudden test, she wanted to throw something hard and edgy at Ulfric. Aurora would have spat, but the carpet she stood on seemed too expensive, so she simply walked back to the rest of her group. Olfina rolled her eyes at Ulfric, making Aurora hit her on the arm.

"Leave us," the Forebear King demanded.

He had begun the sentence with his eyes on the left part of the room, but moved his gaze to the right by the end of it. Olfina turned around, prompting the rest of the Nords to follow her lead. Aurora, on the other hand, searched for Ulfric's gaze. He raised a hand for her to stay.

The three Kings let a minute pass, waiting for the nobility and soldiers to leave the room and servants to carry a table and an extra cushion to the end of the sofa on the left side. Iskander got up on feet and walked towards the huge, pink-red pillow where he sat down with his feet on his knees and a completely straightened back.

The Crowns King followed the other man's lead and sat down opposite him, waiting for Ulfric who gestured for Aurora to come closer.

"I thought this would be a matter of Kings," Iskander spoke.

"I like the way she fights," said the younger King.

Ulfric sat down on the sofa next to the Crowns King and ordered Aurora to sit diagonally opposite him, next to Iskander.

"There are two Redguards here," Ulfric said. "It's only fair Skyrim can have two Nord representatives."

The Crowns king leaned over the table, smiling seductively at Aurora, exposing a golden tooth. The woman leaned backwards and put most of her weight on her hands behind her back.

"But she is Imperial," he spoke calmly, now smiling at Ulfric.

The High King quickly looked at her as if it was the first time he lay his eyes on her, shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands.

"Oh, right," he said.

Aurora bit her lip and smiled. Ulfric's hot temper and inability to wait patiently had gotten him a bit too excited. He was lucky, though, that the Crowns King seemed to enjoy the company of the 'Nords'.

"Let her stay," Canpolat said and leaned back, still with a smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Shall we get to it, Canpolat?" Iskander asked coldly. "Why have you called us here?" he then proceeded, looking at Ulfric.

"Because, as you know, the Thalmor are preparing an invasion of Cyrodiil, and we will be next," Ulfric calmly answered, leaning back with his arms crossed. "This is our one and only possibility to weaken the Aldmeri Dominion and reclaim what was lost in the White-Gold Concordat."

"On a whole, I agree," said Iskander. "But it will be a question of practicalities when it comes to the Redguards."

"For once, I have to agree with Ra-Gada," said Canpolat and put his elbows on the table, covering a part of his mouth with his fingertips. "I understand the situation perfectly well, but my concerns are what happens after the war with the Aldmeri Dominion. I do not wish to send my soldiers to their deaths, only to be conquered by Ra-Gada in a year."

"I understand your concern, Canpolat," Ulfric spoke. "But this is a question of survival. Can you not put your differences aside, at least until after the war? Let's not divide the bear skin before it has been slayed."

The two Redguard Kings looked at each other. Years of mistrust was seen in their eyes, and they both looked like they would simply put a dagger into the other – gracefully and respectfully, as only Kings could, but still lethally. Both Ulfric and Aurora searched for clues in the Redguards' faces, but they showed nothing. After a while, Iskander stood up and nodded.

"I shall speak to my people," he said through his teeth and walked off to his generals.

Canpolat smiled, exposing his pearly white smile and bowed his head toward Ulfric before getting up and following Iskander's lead. His people waited for him outside of the bungalow, but in the other direction.

"Their squabbles will be the end of them," Aurora said and looked at Ulfric.

"There was less hostility than I expected," Ulfric sighed. "And I'm not going to let this fall through because of some silly disagreement over how to draw the borders after a war that we might not even win."

He had his elbows on the table and covered his face with the hands, looking very tired. The woman had never seen him as nervous before, but she could not blame him. The Redguards' differences would create many problems, even if they agreed to take action against the Thalmor.

"We have so little time," he spoke into his hands. "We have _so_ little time."

* * *

The tent Aurora shared with Olfina was huge. It was of an ordinary, square shape, but the height was that of one and a half men. To the left of the entrance, Aurora saw a beautiful table with a pattern carved into the sides. Next to the table, there was a large wardrobe, followed by a bed, a screen about a yard and a half in length, but not fully reaching the height of a woman. Olfina's bed was on the other side of the screen, whilst the right of the room had been left empty. This was the most luxurious tent she had ever stayed in.

The Imperial walked in and began to undo her armour, throwing the gauntlets to the floor and catching Olfina's attention. The Nord called her to the other side of the screen and pointed at the bed. At first, Aurora was confused, but then realised that the dress that lay on the bed was somewhat see-through. It was beautiful, though. The fabric was very light and cream coloured, it had a deep v-cut and wide shoulder straps, there was a binding just beneath the bust, but it was otherwise a very free dress that reached the floor.

"Is this what they want us to wear?" Olfina asked with a disgusted expression.

"It's warm here. We don't need thicker clothing."

"I can see straight through it. I won't wear it."

"I think it's pretty," Aurora said and lifted it to her shoulders to examine how it would look on her.

She gave Olfina a cold smile and returned to her bed, after what she began unbuckling her armour and kicked her boots off. It had never felt so good to remove clothing, and getting rid of the horrible tunic that was drenched in sweat was like being reborn again. The woman undressed completely, except for her knickers, which she felt was a good idea to keep on as the dress was somewhat light. Just as she turned to the wardrobe to find something to put on her head or use as decoration, Olfina came up behind her.

"Damn! Look at those muscles," she exclaimed.

"I know!" Aurora giggled proudly.

Olfina remained standing, crossing her arms and observing Aurora as she tried on a very wide and heavy necklace made of blue, red and green stones. To the woman, it was a rather unusual situation as she had not had time to feel like a woman very much during the last few years, and she decided to do the most out of it. She also realised that her body shape equalled the ideal of the warrior Redguard, and after being teased by countless Dunmer, some Nords and many Imperials (namely Vecheslav) she felt like flaunting it. For once, others than Ulfric would appreciate her not-overly-feminine physique.

"How can you wear something as degrading as that?" Olfina asked with her arms still crossed and a tangled look.

"Oh, come on Olfina! It's not often men throw a second gaze at me. Let me have some fun without lecturing me on morals," Aurora laughed and put her hands together, as if she prayed to the other woman.

Indeed, they looked at her. They all looked at her. After spending most of the day together, the Kings decided to eat dinner, and the Redguard had definitely presented them with a feast. The sun was setting, so the servants had lit candles that hung in small class containers of different colours placed on a thread that followed the paths through the park. There were also spheres made of paper that looked like magical objects floating around in space. The warm weather was perfect for the setting, and for the first time in her life, it felt like she was on vacation.

The Kings had spoken for eight hours before inviting the court to dinner in a long tent further down in the park. It was placed along a pool with dark blue and green mosaic, and the light from the candles reflected beautifully in the water. As Aurora approached, some of the men forgot about their conversations, turned their heads and looked at her. Smiling all the way to the end of the table, where Ulfric sat, Aurora felt Olfina's annoyance in her neck. _Well_, Aurora thought, _you can stand there with your sweaty jacket and trousers_.

"The Dragonborn!" Ulfric exclaimed.

"You seem to be in a very good mood, my King," Aurora smiled and sat down next to him.

"Yes! Of course! We're in the south," he continued.

"In the south!" Aurora smiled. "Where the sun always shines and the weather is hot."

Olfina sat down next to her, but Aurora ignored her. Ulfric seemed to be in a splendid mood, meaning that the meeting had gone well. He did not look half as tired or worn out as he had a few hours earlier, but rather like the strong leader Aurora knew him to be.

"I told the nurse to stay with your protégé. She will be in good hands," Ulfric said and raised a glass of ale.

"That is very kind of you," Aurora answered.

"And if something were to happen you, I've taken care of the child's future."

"Thank you, but the Companions..." she protested.

"Are you insane to chose a group of warriors as nurses over my court?" Ulfric asked as he looked at her, faking anger. "Nonsense! She will stay there," he smiled at Aurora. "Yes, what is it?" he suddenly asked, annoyed.

Aurora jerked and felt the heart rate go up for a moment before realising that the short Nord female had come up to him with a letter. She had emerged from the dark, surprising Aurora as she was somewhat tired and did not pay enough attention. Ulfric opened the red seal and unrolled the parchment. Aurora saw his eyes move quickly from left to right and his facial expression changing drastically. The smile died out and was replaced with a blank stare.

"What is it, my King?" Aurora asked, worried.

He blindly put his glass down and stood up before hurrying away further down the park. The woman looked at Olfina, who shrugged her shoulders and gave Aurora a confused gaze before pouring a glass of ale for her.

The woman waited for a few minutes before eating in case Ulfric would need her help with something, but he did not show up. Olfina tried to calm her by noting that he would have called for her if it were something with the war, and that Ulfric had a life besides being Commander of the army. Aurora agreed on being rational and decided not to think of it anymore.

Olfina was clearly a very straightforward type of person who did not tolerate anything she did not like. That was a great characteristic to have as a warrior, but as a diplomat... not as much. A few men came up to them and tried to start a conversation, but Olfina was so rude that they soon left. Some tried to flirt with the women, but others were simply trying to have a conversation with them. After scaring away a dozen Redguards, Aurora rolled her eyes and hit Olfina lightly in the back of the head, but only received a smug smile in return.

After eating their dinner and trying many foreign courses, some of which Aurora remembered trying before, Olfina continued drinking. Aurora had rarely seen a woman drink as much as Olfina did. She was tall, on the other hand, reaching about an inch lower than Aurora herself, but she was still shocked. The Imperial took her glass of ale and examined it closely. At least did not taste that strong. She was not planning on ensuring that Olfina would not create a mess.

Two male servants dressed in ordinary, cream coloured tunics and red trousers came up to the table and placed a basked in front of the women. They gestured for them to take what they wanted and quickly disappeared. Aurora did not pay much attention as she guessed the baskets were filled with more food or fruits, and kept her gaze on the servants that were walking away.

"Wow!" Aurora exclaimed and sighed.

"Damn it. I'm excited," Olfina added.

"Finally noticed the pretty men?" Aurora asked, leaning her head against her right arm.

"They could be Taloses for all I care. Have you seen the craftsmanship of these!?"

Aurora turned her gaze towards Olfina who looked at something in her hands. It took a while before Aurora noticed what it was, and as she did, she could not withhold from laughing. The other woman was holding two manhood-shaped, marble sticks with blue patterns painted onto them.

"Can't be better than the real thing," she laughed.

"Sure, but when the real thing is hundreds of miles away," Olfina stated and handed her one from the basket.

"What is this?" Aurora asked and took a stick with a finger's thickness.

"For milkdrinkers," Olfina stated innocently. "Wouldn't think you could handle anything more... demanding."

"Hm... my Vilkas is this size!" Aurora exclaimed and showed Olfina one of the thicker ones.

"Don't believe you!" she replied, teasingly. "You are not woman enough to take even this!"

"I am not having this conversation with you, you horny little... little..." Aurora began before being laughed at by Olfina.

She rolled her eyes and got up. It only took her a few seconds to realise that she had no plan on what to do after leaving her place. The woman walked up to the pool and noticed activity on the other side of it. Someone was playing an instrument, and it had gathered about two dozen people. Curious, she began the forty-yard trip there.

As she came closer, she noticed that the group consisted of mainly nobility. Not being sure of what to do, she sat down on the carpet together with the rest of the people and watched the show.

* * *

A dark Redguard walked up to the front. She was without any doubt the most beautiful woman Aurora had ever seen. Her body was toned, but she had well defined breasts and hips. Her black, curly hair reached her shoulders but created a full volume from about the height of her ears and downwards. The eyes were big and open, her lips full and soft, the cheekbones well defined but feminine.

"Wow!" Aurora exclaimed.

"She's Dh'emis, one of Canpolat's mistresses," she heard a man behind her say.

Aurora could not tear her gaze from the dark Redguard woman. She wore a thin breast binding with white, glittering gemstones and matching underwear. She used a yellow, thick snake as a scarf, looking like a dangerous, mystic maneater.

"She's beautiful."

"Oh, and he asks if you would like for her to visit your bedchamber tonight."

"Gods no!" Aurora exclaimed and turned around, looking at the man behind her for the first time. She recognised him as one of Canpolat's men.

"Together with Canpolat himself, that is," he smiled, exposing his pearly white teeth.

"Definitely not!" Aurora exclaimed and got up on her feet.

Shocked, the woman hurried back to her quarters. She felt nauseous thinking of the Crowns King, and for the first time, she felt homesick. The only thing Aurora wished to do was to crawl up in Vilkas's lap and feel his warmth. It hurt her that she would not see him for months, or maybe even never.

She cursed him for not taking the chance of coming with her and spending as much time as possible with the woman he... well...

Aurora stormed into the tent she shared with Olfina and placed herself in front of the woman's bed. The Nord had undressed and thrown her armour, gauntlets and boots across the floor, creating a mess. As she noticed Aurora, she looked up from the book she was reading and gazed at the Imperial with an annoyed expression.

"Why did you have doubts regarding Vilkas and me?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

Aurora had crossed her arms and pinned her gaze at Olfina, making the other woman slightly uneasy.

"Well... He... He isn't really the perfect gentleman, is he?"

"Maybe I don't want perfect gentlemen?"

"Your call," she said and closed the book. "But if my Jon would even look at another woman, he'd be floating in the river in the morning."

_Olfina with her ever so antagonistic ways_... Aurora thought. She would have laughed, but the situation was not right, and she stopped herself. It had been how Vecheslav described her before Vilkas came along. She knew she tiptoed around the man, always trying to please him, and she was growing unsure of how the others saw her. Aurora had a great time with Vecheslav, but she calmed down as soon as her partner returned. His coldness had thawed since returning from Morrowind, but she was still afraid of doing something that would upset him.

"Aurora?" Olfina asked, catching the Imperial's gaze. "Trust me on this, there are some challenges one simply cannot undertake because of their foolishness."

"What do you mean with that?" Aurora asked with a wrinkled forehead.

"Good night," Olfina said and reached for the Redguard stick that she had placed under her bed.

"What are you doing?" Aurora asked.

"Well... they were free, so it'd be a shame if..."

"Euw, _Olfina_!"

The Imperial rolled her eyes and hurried outside.


End file.
